Page 34 of Strike Fast

Okay, he wasn’t going to make her kneel before him while she was naked and wearing that goddamn collar, fresh from whatever those motherfuckers had done to her. “Cap,” he said to Hamilton over their comms. “We found another hostage. Meet us on the road.”

“Roger that.”

The woman took what appeared to be an involuntary step back as Reid continued to approach her. He stopped, tried to look as non-threatening as he could with his size while armed and wearing tactical gear. He motioned to Khan, who was beside him now. “I’m Special Agent Reid Prentiss. This is my teammate, Zaid. He’s our medic. Will you let him help you?” For starters, Reid wanted that fucking collar and chain off her,asap.

Her one-eyed gaze flicked over to Khan, her stiff posture and stance telling Reid that she was an instant from fleeing through the woods like a wounded doe. She had no reason to trust him, or believe that he and Khan were with the DEA. For all she knew they were more of Ruiz’s men, or someone else from the cartel.

“What’s your name?” he asked, not daring to move in case it triggered her flight response.

She didn’t answer, her chest and shoulders rising and falling with her rapid, harsh breaths. Blood trickled down from where the chain had bitten into her neck, and her wrists and ankles were raw from whatever they’d bound her with. The rest of her was a mass of bruises and other marks. Fucking hell, he wanted to cover her up and carry her out of here.

“Okay, I’m here,” Hamilton said through his earpiece.

Reid pointed a finger over her shoulder. “There’s a road just up ahead. My team leader is there waiting for us. We can get you help.”

The woman stared at him a few seconds longer, then glanced briefly over her shoulder and fixed her gaze back on him once more. Weighing her options. Realizing that there was nowhere for her to go. That she was trapped.

She crossed her arms over her breasts in a purely self-conscious move, seemed to hunch into herself as she dropped her chin. Reid lowered the beam of the flashlight, aiming it at the trail instead of her. Then she took a halting step back, instinctively moving away from him and Khan. Maybe not believing that there was someone actually waiting out on the road for them.

Reid bit back a sigh and reined in his frustration. She’d been through hell and back. He didn’t blame her for being scared and distrustful. “Okay, we’ll follow you. Go ahead and watch your step.”

She kept going, her body angled away from them, too afraid to give them her back.

“Moving to you, Cap,” Reid told him.

“Okay. Does she need medical attention?”

“Yeah.”

Khan stayed silent, but Reid knew damn good and well his buddy was sickened by what had happened to her, and as a medic the urge to help her had to be burning a hole inside him right now.

A few yards from the dirt road, the woman stopped, having spotted Hamilton standing there near the van.

“Cap, is there a blanket in the van?” Reid asked.

“Gimme a sec.”

Reid and Khan both waited in place while their team leader went to look, and the woman stood frozen in place as though she was afraid to move.

“Yeah, got one,” Hamilton said a moment later.

“It’s okay,” Reid said to the woman. “It’s our team leader. He’s got a blanket for you. Let’s get you covered up, and then Zaid can take a look at you.”And I’ll get that fucking collar off you.

The woman’s breathing grew even shorter, the rapid rhythm of it telling Reid that she was a second away from either freaking out or bolting. Maybe she thought they were going to kidnap her again.

She’d been through too much already. He couldn’t put her through any more fear.

“Cap,” he murmured into his mic, keeping his gaze pinned to her. “Gonna need a hand here. She’s too scared.” He shifted his weight onto the balls of his feet, ready to spring into action if she bolted.

“Hang on.” Seconds later Hamilton materialized through the trees, the blanket already spread open in his hands.

The woman gasped and whirled, and in the edge of the flashlight’s beam Reid caught the abject shock on his team leader’s face for a split second as Hamilton saw her and the state she was in. She whirled to flee, and Hamilton reacted instantly, leaping forward to capture her with the blanket, wrapping its folds around her as he lifted her off her feet.

Reid cursed silently and burst toward them. She let out a shrill scream and tried to fight her way free, but Hamilton had his arms locked around her, holding her to his chest. “Shhh, shhh, it’s okay,” he said gently. “Hey, no. I won’t hurt you. Shhh.”

Reid and Khan stopped a few feet from them and stood there. Reid’s heart squeezed as the woman stilled and finally curled into a ball, the blanket swallowing everything but the top half of her face and head.

Hamilton gently sank to the ground on his knees and pulled her into his lap. “It’s all right. Just breathe. Nobody’s ever going to hurt you again. I’m going to carry you to the van and—”

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